Ben Whitney

Chair

Ben Whitney serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing. Ben is President of Armo Tool Limited, the third generation of the Whitney family to take a leadership role in the company founded by George and Ross Whitney in 1969. Ben graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in 2000. He was awarded his Masters in Engineering by Western University in 2013. Soon after graduation in 2000, he became a full-time employee at Armo Tool, where he had worked on a casual basis since age 14. Over the next nine years, Ben developed his experience in the tool & die industry as a designer, PLC programmer, project manager and manager of Armo’s Die Design department.

Ray Tanguay

Vice-Chair

In 1991, Ray joined Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc., and was quickly recognized as a leading force in instilling innovation within the company. Over the past 20 years, TMMC has been recognized with an outstanding 12 J.D. Power and Associates plant quality awards, including the global best Platinum Award in 2011 and 2014. Under his exceptional stewardship, TMMC became the first Toyota manufacturing plant outside of Japan to produce Lexus vehicles, beginning in 2003. In 2012, TMMC announced that in addition to increasing production of the Lexus RX350, it would also begin building the RX450h, the hybrid version of the popular Lexus vehicle. An admirer of the Lexus slogan, the “Passionate Pursuit of Perfection”, Mr. Tanguay firmly believes in people aiming to do, and be, the best they can in their own respective fields. Always looking to the future, he has contributed to the further globalization of Toyota, and the achievement of self-reliance in North America, by creating a clear vision within a strategic framework that incorporates human resource development and reliable business partnerships. In addition to his former Canadian responsibilities as Chairman of both TMMC and also Toyota Canada Inc., and as President of Canadian Autoparts Toyota Inc., Mr. Tanguay continues to provide a valuable contribution to the Global Toyota in his role as advisor to the Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan. In 2012, he was recognized for his achievements with an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Laurier University and an honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the University of Waterloo.

Paul Boothe

Paul Boothe is a former Managing Director for the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing. In December 2016, he was appointed to the Order of Canada. Paul retired as Professor and Director of the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management at the Ivey Business School, Western University, in August 2016. His work experience has included university research and teaching, acting as an independent consultant to Canadian and international organizations, and serving as a senior public servant in provincial and federal governments. At the provincial level, he served as Saskatchewan’s Deputy Minister of Finance and Secretary to Treasury Board. At the federal level, his appointments include Associate Deputy Minister of Finance and G7 Deputy, Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Industry and, most recently, Deputy Minister of the Environment. He retired from the federal public service in July 2012.

Ian Howcroft

Ian is the CEO of Skills Ontario, having served as one of their Board Members, and later Board President from 2004 to 2006. He holds an Honours B.A. from McMaster University, and a law degree from the University of Western Ontario. He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Skills Ontario is building Ontario’s skilled trades and technologies workforce. We enable and empower all youth, including women and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit youth, to consider a career in the skilled trades and technologies. Engagement with students, teachers, parents, volunteers, employers and mentors ensure our programs connect education, experience, and employment. We deliver in-school presentations across Ontario, host Canada’s largest skills competition, run summer camps for skills development and connect students to employers. We are focused on growth sectors such as construction and infrastructure, technology innovation, and hospitality services. Over the years Mr. Howcroft has also had the pleasure of sitting or serving on numerous boards, steering committees, organizations and other committees. Current memberships include the Board of Directors of Skills Canada, the Board of Directors of Centennial College, the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board Unit (Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges & Universities), and the Partnership Council on Employment Opportunities for People with Disabilities (Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Employment & Infrastructure).

Paul Madden

Paul M Madden has enjoyed a varied and successful career with the global 3M Company, and was appointed CEO 3M Australia/New Zealand in 2007, President 3M Canada 2012 and Vice President and GM of 3M’s Global Automotive and Aerospace Division in 2016 at 3M’s Head Office is St Paul, MN. While in Canada Paul was a member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, was a member of the United Way cabinet in the London region and was involved with the St Joseph’s Hospital Foundation fund raising Board. Paul’s leadership approach includes motivating his team to achieve results beyond the status quo, listening to others, and respecting and appreciating different and diverse points of view in an effort to inform better decision-making. Paul has also been successful in leading large organization strategic planning and execution. Paul and his family have been involved with sports all around the world including hockey and skiing in Canada, baseball and football in Texas, rugby, cricket and ocean swimming in Australia. Paul’s oldest son has been involved with adapted sports participating in Paralympic track, handcycling, tennis and swimming programs in Texas and Australia, and parahockey in Canada. Paul currently sits on two other private Company Board of Directors, and involved with parahockey here on London Ontario.

Jayson Myers

Jayson Myers is the Chief Executive Officer of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, the not-for-profit corporation leading Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster, an initiative funded by the Government of Canada that will leverage more than $500 million over the next three years in collaborative, industry-led projects aimed at building world-leading advanced manufacturing capabilities in Canada. Myers is an award-winning business economist who specializes in industrial and technological change. Between 2007 and 2016, he served as President & CEO of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, Canada’s largest industry and trade association. In 2017 and 2018, he headed up the policy office for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. He was the founding Chair of the Canadian Manufacturing Coalition, Vice Chair of Canada’s National Roundtable on Skills, and Vice Chair of the Ontario and Great Lakes Manufacturing Councils. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the World Manufacturing Forum. Myers has been widely recognized as one of the most influential policy advocates in Canada. He is an advisor to both private and public sector leaders, and has counselled Canadian prime ministers and premiers, as well as senior corporate executives and policymakers around the world. As Principal of Jayson Myers Public Affairs, he helps organizations identify and manage opportunities arising from the changes that are reshaping industry and international business.

Alison Newton

Alison Newton is the General Manager of Strategic Initiatives with the County of Brant with a portfolio including Corporate Communications; Public Relations; Corporate Strategy; Economic Development & Tourism; Special Events & Filming. Prior to joining the County of Brant, Alison held positions in both the public sector and private sector as a Capital Markets Consultant working with global industrial clients. She has worked in the UK and Canada throughout her career. She holds a BA in Political Science from Carleton University and a Master of Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. Alison is a Certified Economic Developer with the Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC) and the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). Alison is the Past President of the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO) and continues to contribute her time to various committees within the organization.

Evan Aiello

Research Associate

Evan Aiello was a Research Associate for the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing during the summer of 2017. He has since received his HBA and MSc in Business Analytics from the Richard Ivey School of Business in 2018 and 2019, respectively. After graduating in 2019, Evan relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, to work as a Data Scientist for Omatic Software, an integration software company built entirely for nonprofits. His work with Omatic Software includes maintaining data health within the organization, as well as implementing descriptive, prescriptive, and predictive analytics modelling to enable educated decision making in all facets of the business. In his spare time, Evan enjoys both playing and watching hockey, travelling, and water sports.

Jake Anderson

Research Associate

Jake Anderson was a Research Associate for The Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing. He joined Trillium in May 2019, following his graduation from Western University’s Honours Specialization in Economics program. During his time at Western, Jake received several merit-based scholarships, including the S. F. Glass Gold Medal, which is awarded to the top graduating student in the Honours Specialization economics stream. In addition, Jake has held a number of positions in the university’s orientation and residence system, including Residents’ Council President and Academic and Leadership Programmer. Jake is currently pursuing an MSc in Management degree with a focus on Business Analytics at the Ivey Business School.

Brandon Chang

Brandon Chang was a Research Associate at the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing. He joined Trillium in November 2019 while completing his undergraduate dual degree: Western University’s Honors Specialization in Economics, Politics, and Philosophy program and the Honors Business Administration program from the Ivey Business School. During his time at Western, Brandon received two merit-based scholarships, including the Western President’s National Scholarship and the Godsoe Scholar Award. Brandon also enjoyed practicing karate throughout university which he started at the age of six. His last competitive season was in 2017 when he attended the National Championships in Quebec City as a member of Team Ontario. Since then, he actively participated in Western’s Tea Club and was most recently VP Finance. He looks forward to his Convocation happening later this year.

Han Sheng (Michael) Chiang

Han Sheng Chiang was a Mitacs Accelerate Intern for the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing during the summer of 2020. He is currently pursuing a MSc in Business Analytics at Ivey Business School, Western University. During his time at Ivey, Han Sheng has received the Ivey MSc Excellence Scholarship. Han Sheng received his Bachelor of Business Administration with Honors (Distinction) with specializations in finance and supply chain & operations from the National University of Singapore in 2019. Prior to joining Trillium, Han Sheng spent a year working in a Chicago based aviation company as a project manager and as a business intelligence analyst. In his spare time, Han Sheng enjoys travelling and exploring new destinations.

Trevor Coppins

Mitacs Intern

Trevor was a Mitacs Accelerate Intern for the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing in 2020. Trevor is currently pursuing his PhD in Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology under the supervision of Dr. Johanna Weststar. Outside of his research in the manufacturing realm, Trevor has also been involved in various projects within the video game industry, investigating human resource management and project management initiatives. Trevor’s research on workplace attachments has been presented at various national and international conferences, including the Canadian Psychological Association and the European Group for Organizational Studies. In the public speaking realm, Trevor’s masters thesis placed 1st in the faculty of Social Science’s 3 Minute Thesis competition and placed top 20 across Western University. This culminated in presenting his research at the Wolf Performance Hall in London, Ontario to the general public and researchers alike. His research has been in part funded through the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Master’s), made possible by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Trevor is also the recipient of the Douglas N. Jackson Entrance Award, which is awarded to graduate students who have exhibited high research potential and academic achievement in the field of I/O Psychology.

Oscar Crawford-Ritchie

Research Associate

Oscar was a Research Associate for the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing from 2016 to 2017. Oscar received his honours bachelor degree in economics, politics, and philosophy in 2017. Since then, he as been attending Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business in pursuit of a joint JD/MBA. He will graduate in 2021. Oscar has had an internship with the legal group of a major Canadian bank, a boutique Toronto investment bank, and working in customer service at Scotiabank. He is working as a summer student at a full-service Toronto law firm for the summer of 2020. Beyond work and school, Oscar enjoys economics, history, art, visiting museums, travelling, reading, and watching films.

Richard DiCerni

Board Member

Richard Dicerni was a board member for the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing from 2016 to 2019. Mr. Dicerni graduated from the College Sainte Marie in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts. He pursued graduate studies at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard where he earned a Master’s in Public Administration in 1981. Mr. Dicerni began his career with the federal government in 1969. In the 1970s and 1980s, he held a number of executive positions in the federal public service including Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Health and Welfare; and, Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet. In 1992, he joined the Ontario Government as Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy. He was Deputy Minister of Alberta Executive Council and Head of the Alberta Public Service from 2014 to 2016.

Bing Feng

Program Officer

Bing Feng was a Program Officer at the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing. She is currently the Research Associate and Coordinator at Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR), where her work focuses on helping organizations best embed and harness behavioural insights into their everyday processes. Bing has co-authored reports that look at financial planning intention-action gaps from a behavioural lens. She is interested in applying behavioural economics to help organizations accomplish the desired behavioural change in their stakeholders. Bing holds an MBA degree from the University of Toronto and a B.A. in Economics from Western University. In her spare time, Bing enjoys travelling, calligraphy, skiing and photography

Eric Huang

Research Associate

Eric Huang was a research associate for the Trillium Network of Advanced Manufacturing in 2017. He is the Founder and CEO of Advanced Analytics and Research Lab (AAARL.CA), an affordable analytic service provider, consultancy and education shop. Eric has an undergraduate degree in Honours Business Administration, a Master of Science in Analytics from Ivey Business School, as well as an Honours Specialization in Economics from Western University. He has worked in various capacities in consulting, business development, finance, and academia, and has experiences teaching undergraduate and master level students in fun, engaging, and practical ways. Eric is a fun and friendly individual who loves to learn, is an avid coffee drinker, barista, photographer and volunteer.

Omar Imambaccus

Research Associate

Omar was a research associate at Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing. He graduated from Western University with an Honours Specialization in Global Economics in 2015. He then continued to pursue a Master of Arts in Economic Policy at McMaster University in 2016. Omar was then hired as a research associate by Trillium in 2017. At Trillium, he was involved in several projects including the R&D Heatmap, TrilliumGIS as well as monitoring and enhancing Trillium Network’s presence on social media outlets such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Omar is now pursuing a career as a policy analyst.

Kriti Jangpangi

Research Associate

Kriti Jangpangi was a Research Associate at the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing in 2019-2020. She joined the organization in December 2019, while pursuing her Master of Management of Applied Science (MMASc) degree from Western University. When she is not caught up with school or work, she enjoys calligraphy, playing badminton, exploring new places, and working her way through a recipe.

Joe Johnston

Research Associate

Joe Johnston was a Research Associate at the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing from 2016 to 2017. After graduating from Western University with a Honours Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Politics and Philosophy, Joe moved to London UK to pursue further legal education. He now holds a UK law degree and is currently working in regulatory compliance with Seedrs, the UK's first authorized investment based crowdfunding platform.

Anu Lalith Kumar

Research Associate

Anu Kumar was a research associate for the Trillium Network of Advanced Manufacturing from November 2015 until August 2017. During this time, she completed her Honours Specialization in Economics at Western University. Following her undergraduate education, Anu completed a dual degree program at Queen's University where she successfully obtained her Master of Arts in Economics and a law degree. She completed her articles at the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2020.

Kevin Madden

Research Associate

Kevin Madden was a Research Associate with the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing from 2017 to 2018. He graduated from Western University in 2018 with an Honours Specialization in Economics, Politics, & Philosophy. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Honours Economics University of Western Ontario Gold Medal for being the top graduating student in the Economics, Politics, & Philosophy module. Kevin is currently attending law school at the University of Toronto, where he will complete his J.D. in 2021. Since leaving Trillium, Kevin has spent time working in the British Virgin Islands for an investigative law that specializes in international fraud and asset recovery. He will be working for a major full-service law firm in New York City during the summer of 2020.

Sumeeta Prihar

Research Associate

Sumeeta Prihar was a Research Associate at the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing. She joined the organization in January 2020, while pursuing a Master of Science in Kinesiology specializing in Integrative Biosciences. Sumeeta previously completed a BScH in Life Sciences with distinction at Queen’s University. She is also currently a proud member of the women’s tennis team at Western.

Andrew Rebus

Research Associate

Andrew Rebus was a Research Associate with the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing from 2019-2020. He joined Trillium in November 2019 during the final year of his Honours Specialization Economics undergraduate degree from the University of Western Ontario. Andrew volunteers at the Economics Drop-in Help Centre at the University of Western Ontario, where he tutors economics, mathematics and business.

Maria Shaposhnikova

Research Associate

Maria Shaposhnikova was a Research Associate and GIS Specialist at the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing in 2017. Maria graduated from Western University with a specialization in Geographic Information Science, and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Remote Sensing and Machine Learning at the University of Waterloo.

Alister Smith

Deputy Director

Alister Smith was a Deputy Director for the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing until October 2020. Prior to working at the Trillium Network, Alister held a number of senior positions with the federal government, as well as with a Canadian bank. Most recently, he was Executive Director for Canada at the World Bank. Prior to that, he was Associate Secretary to the Treasury Board and held other senior positions at Treasury Board and the Department of Finance. Over the course of his career, he has worked at senior levels in a variety of policy areas including expenditure management, regulation, trade, investment, and international finance. Earlier, he was Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist at CIBC. He holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Jonathan Soriano

Program Officer

Jonathan Soriano worked for the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing from 2017 to 2020. He first joined the Trillium Network in November 2017 as a Research Associate while completing his undergraduate degree at Western University. Upon graduating from Western with an Honours Specialization in Global Economics, Jonathan received the University of Western Ontario Gold Medal for Honours Specialization in Global Economics and The Chancellor’s Prize in Social Science Honours Program. In August 2019, he completed the PhD-stream Masters at Western University and joined the Trillium Network full time as a Program Officer. Jonathan’s favourite extracurricular activity is playing tennis, and he was a proud member of the varsity men’s tennis team at Western University. Winning the team’s maiden Canadian University National Championship in 2017 is Jonathan’s favourite memory from his university tennis career, in addition to being captain of the team for his final two seasons as a Western Mustang.

David Zhang

Program Officer

David Zhang joined the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing in July 2017 as Program Officer. David is a 2016 HBA graduate from the Ivey Business School at Western University. He was a Western National Scholar and an Ivey HBA Leaders Scholarship recipient. David’s interests span the private, public, and non-profit sectors. He spent two summers working as a private equity analyst in Beijing, worked a year as a Research Associate at the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management, and currently sits on the City of Waterloo’s Economic Development Advisory Committee. In his spare time, David enjoys playing the piano, reading, cycling, running, travelling, and volunteering.